The Fire Next Time

Lauryn Manigo

The Fire Next Time

Lauryn Manigo

Media Connection

Main Arguments

1. Religion: All throughout the book, James Baldwin address religion. He briefly discusses his upbringing in the Christian church and having Jewish friends. He talks about his time as a minister. He also talks about meeting Elijah Muhammad and his claims of it being time for blacks to rise to power.

2. Equal Rights: Throughout the entire book, equal rights were being brought up. With racial equality, Baldwin obviously addresses parts of the Civil Rights movement, but he also talks about the importance of women in society.

3. Acceptance: Throughout the text, Baldwin uses many different contexts to explore the topic of acceptance. In the beginning of the book he specifically states that he wants to be accepted somewhere (Either the streets or the church). Later he then goes onto make the argument for love. He states that love "takes off the masks". By this he implies that when there is love, their is also acceptance.

Dating Outside Your Religion

In the text, James Baldwin mentions that his father was a strict minister. When James introduced his friend who was Jewish, his father did not respond well.

Rhetorical Devices

Repetition- (Pg. 76-77) "Protect you women..." Baldwin continually repeats this phrase This gives importance because it stresses his view of the importance of women in society.

Imagery- (Pg. 79) "The car arrived -- a gleaming, metallic, grossly American Blue.." The imagery adds to the text because it shows that Baldwin remembered details which show how important this time in his was.

Diction- (Pg. 28) "Whose little boy are ?... I unquestionably wasn't to be somebody's little boy." This is important to the text because it showed how earnest James was to find where he belonged in the world.